D&D 5E Heroes of Baldur's Gate is a D&D Adventure From Bioware's Baldur's Gate Designer

Burnside · May 3, 2019

Paul Farquhar said:
Disclosure: I haven't read/played Dragon Heist.

Hee hee. Sadly, there are bits of it that work exactly like your example.

Paul Farquhar · May 3, 2019

Burnside said:
Hee hee. Sadly, there are bits of it that work exactly like your example.

Oh dear.

Tazawa · May 4, 2019

Burnside said:
Okay. So having read most of the adventure, I'd have to amend my review to emphasize a fairly important point.

I don't think the designers are really familiar with 5E. And by that I mean, if it didn't exist in 2E, it pretty much doesn't exist in this adventure. Four chapters in, zero skill checks of any kind except lock picking. No perception, no persuasion, no investigation, no stealth, nothing but lock picking. No advantage or disadvantage. No warlocks, no tieflings, no dragonborn, no characters with any race/class combinations that didn't exist in 2E. No monsters that didn't exist in 2E. I realize that for some this is just fine - but it's something that should definitely be known in advance.

It's like someone wrote a 2E adventure and then kinda sorta did the absolute bare minimum humanly possible to almost make it 5E. But if you're a DM planning to deliver what 5E players are generally used to from a published adventure, burden is on you to do so. You're given fights, talking, and picking locks. Everything else in terms of game mechanics is on you to add. Not an impossible job, but a job you'd generally expect a pre-written adventure to do more of for you.

I really don’t think this is true. Do you maybe have an earlier version of the PDF than me? Chapter 1 has Perception, Survival, and Stealth checks and the other chapters have skill checks on a fairly regular basis.

I think the writers have a very good grasp of 5e mechanics. The new monsters are formatted to WotC standards and have appropriate CRs. The stat blocks are relatively simple and should be easy to run, while the descriptive text is detailed and evocative. Similar to if not better than the entries in the Monster Manual (except for the skeleton warriors—for some reason they have really high Intelligence).

The NPCs are also well done. Unlike many third party adventures, they don’t try to recreate a player character—instead they distill the character to an easy-to-run stat block with the interesting details contained in the roleplaying advice. I don’t see any ‘2e-isms’. All of the class features come from the 5e versions of the classes—the writers aren’t trying to recreate any distinctive features of earlier editions. Minsc is even given barbarian class features instead of being shoe-horned into the ranger class (2e didn’t have barbarians as a core class).

All and all I think it’s a very good sandbox-style 5e adventure with some nostalgic throwbacks to prior editions.

MNblockhead · May 4, 2019

Burnside said:
Okay. So having read most of the adventure, I'd have to amend my review to emphasize a fairly important point.

I don't think the designers are really familiar with 5E. And by that I mean, if it didn't exist in 2E, it pretty much doesn't exist in this adventure. Four chapters in, zero skill checks of any kind except lock picking. No perception, no persuasion, no investigation, no stealth, nothing but lock picking. No advantage or disadvantage. No warlocks, no tieflings, no dragonborn, no characters with any race/class combinations that didn't exist in 2E. No monsters that didn't exist in 2E. I realize that for some this is just fine - but it's something that should definitely be known in advance.

It's like someone wrote a 2E adventure and then kinda sorta did the absolute bare minimum humanly possible to almost make it 5E. But if you're a DM planning to deliver what 5E players are generally used to from a published adventure, burden is on you to do so. You're given fights, talking, and picking locks. Everything else in terms of game mechanics is on you to add. Not an impossible job, but a job you'd generally expect a pre-written adventure to do more of for you.

That's disappointing. Hopefully it is still a fun read.

Paul Farquhar · May 4, 2019

I think the key point is it is more of a sandbox, so is probably not a good choice for a first time DM. It would be good for an experienced DM to introduce inexperienced players to the game though, and is pretty much a must for anyone who likes the original CRPG. You could go big on the "historical" aspect, banning Dragonborn PCs, tweaking the deities available to clerics, and so in. If you want a primer on FR it has a lot of background.

Updated to the FR "present" it can also work a description of the Baldur's Gate city and area with optional sidequests if an adventuring party should happen that way as part of a larger quest. In which case no knowledge of the CRPG is required.

MockingBird · May 4, 2019

Murder in Baldurs Gate is probably the most up to date version of the city. That AP has a whole book dedicated to the city at present time. That AP in conjunction with Heros and a little work should make it a breeze to advance the timeline if one desires to do so.

EthanSental · May 5, 2019

Picked up my hard copy from the post office today. Nicely done except for a dent to the box that also dented the front cover due to poor packing. Bubble wrap laid flat on top of the book inside a box, nothing wrapped around it to keep it from shifting, denting. And wow that artwork looks great!

Von Ether · May 11, 2019

Hussar said:
Damn. Anyone who thinks that dms guild is just for amateurs just got proved wrong.

If I had like crazy amounts of money, I'd be tempted to "James Patterson" on the DM's Guild. Basically be a mini-publisher within the Guild and invest in the production values. It might take a while to make the money back, if ever, but it would be more to have fun and raise the bar.

Azzy · May 11, 2019

Tazawa said:
Similar to if not better than the entries in the Monster Manual (except for the skeleton warriors—for some reason they have really high Intelligence).

Skeleton warriors were highly intelligent in previous editions (from their introduction in 1e's Fiend Folio onward), too.

RxDrAcula · May 11, 2019

That's super cool!

Although if I played this like I had played the video game, it would just be me telling the DM that I rest until I am interrupted by a sirine. Then I would kill said sirine. Wash. Rinse. Repeat.

D&D 5E Heroes of Baldur's Gate is a D&D Adventure From Bioware's Baldur's Gate Designer

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